Advocacy

​On Thursday, in a stunning unanimous decision, a New York Appellate Court sided with Big I NY, ruling that the 2018 amendment to Insurance Regulation 187 (AKA, the “best interest regulation) is unconstitutionally vague. Big I NY contended that, among many other issues, the regulation is unclear on what specifically producers must do in order to comply. The ruling is the latest development in Big I NY's ongoing legal challenge to the regulation, which began shortly after the regulation was adopted in 2018. The DFS is has 30 days to decide if they will appeal the ruling to the state's highest court, the New York…

​Earlier this week, I and members of the Big I NY board and staff joined employer groups from virtually every sector of the economy at a press conference to voice concerns with the “NY HERO Act", a bill mandating new workplace airborne infectious disease rules and regulations. The bill has now passed both the Senate and Assembly, and will soon head to the Governor's desk.The intent of this bill is noble – protecting workers from airborne diseases. But the reality for employers, particularly small businesses, is more crushing red tape, bureaucracy, and liability. Broadly speaking, the bill mandates the Department of Labor (DOL) to implement sweeping…

This week, the New York state leaders reached an agreement on a $212B state budget, the largest in the state's history. Ultimately, most of smaller policy provisions proposed by the Governor were removed, but many “big picture" policy pieces made the final cut. Here is a summary of the key pieces affecting you and your customers:No-Fault Anti-Fraud (Rejected): Big I NY supported the Governor's proposal to more easily and aggressively prosecute medical providers (“medical mills") that commit no-fault fraud, and lobbied members of the legislature on this issue during Independent Agents Advocacy Week. Unfortunately, this proposal was not included in the final budget. We are…